Hiker's Log

I've made it! To Atlanta, anyway.
I was told it would be overcast and it is 21 degrees! At least it's dry heat?

The flight to Canada was lovely. I got to watch two films and young Buffy. There was no turbulence and we were given plenty of snacks and drinks. I even got three yoghurts, that's two more than most people get!

The flight from Canada to the USA was also nice, I slept for most of it and read for the other bits.

However the changeover was not so fun. I, unexecptectly to me, went through customs and security in Canada and not the USA. There, a rather unhappy looking lady questioned me on why I was going to the USA. Not just "business or pleasure" but also "am I staying with someone" and "have I been working". Questions I thought I had already answered and satisfied the US government when I got my visa.

That was scary.

But, now I'm here and getting to my air bnb.

Leaving home

Hiker's log, star date 20190409: Saying goodbye to my girlfriend was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. There should have been much weeping but I am too masculine to have done so.

Hiker's log, Star date 20190410 0500: Good grief.. I hate early mornings.

We had to get up slightly before five and then rush through everything again at the last minute, making sure I wasn't leaving anything behind.

I'm so tired.

0630: Sleeeeepy

I have tickets now and have said goodbye to my backpack. But not yet my family. A quick snack first, and then the hard bit where some people cry. Not me of course, I'm too macho manly. Obviously.

0715: less sleepy, and through security. I now have much food.

End transmission (until a later date / time)

GoPro + Instagram

I have a GoPro now!  I bought a GoPro Hero 7 the other day and have had a play with it.  It seems pretty cool so far,  and I've been playing with it on the mini-holiday I took with my girlfriend the last couple of days.  I'll be using it to take photos, record videos, maybe vlog as well as blog whilst I'm out hiking.  I've also got myself an instagram account to go with.  I'll be posting photos and videos and all sorts there, as I work out how to use it.  This blog will still be my usual place to update I think.

And here is a snazzy, ish, photo of all my gear, ish.  It doesn't have my water filtration system or water bladder visible in it, but it's got most of everything in it.  The GoPro is a far better camera than my phone is.  So with one week left to go, I'm a little bit worried but also very, very very excited. 

New gear

 So I've been quiet again lately.  I don't have much to say at the moment.

I do again now though.  I have new kit since my original kit lists.
I've overhauled some of my electronics kit, I have new footwear, and I have lighter dry bags.

Let's start with that last one.  Before I had some old exped drybags that weighed I don't know how much and carried I don't know how much.  Now I have two osprey 'ultralight' drybags that are 6L and 12L.  They fit my clothes and my quilts.  I can also shove my electronics in the clothes bag.

Speaking of which.  Gone is my heavy anker powerpack, now I have a Zendure X6 and a 60W charger.  It holds about as much charge, but has more USB ports and can charge quicker.  As in it can be charged faster and it can charge other things faster, in part thanks to the 60W plug.

Now for the most important thing. Shoes!

I've let myself be convinced in trail runners, after my boots went a bit wrong a while ago. After an ordeal at Cotswold where, despite their valiant efforts and nearly a dozen different types of shoes, we decided they didn't have any that would fit.
However!

The Cotswold Man, whose name shan't be revealed, told me of.. another place.

In a place hidden in fields and woods..

      .....there is a village...

                                           ....a village untouched by modern road design or town planning....

And in that village is an outdoors shop.
And there I met another man.  A man whose name shall also not be revealed.
And his wife whose name I did not learn for it was not spoken in words.

It was there that we sat, and pondered.

We thought...
               ........and debated.......
                                                         ....and discussed...

Until at last, these wise sages of many an outdoor activity suggested a shoe unlike others.

A shoe little seen in these lands, and imported from a far off place, from across the shining sea.
These shoes were light, soft and flexible but also broad of toe.

They were a running shoe, named the Altra Lonepeak 4.0, and into them we place my feet.

And then we placed special insoles, like but unlike superfeet.
 They supported my arch like the legendary superfoot, however they were softer and more malleable elsewhere unlike the superfoot.


But we were not finished, for then they clad me in garments most strange and unnatural.
For instead of my sock and liner sock, they had me strip bare my foot and placed upon it..

                                                      ...injini..

These socks are as like you have never seen before, I wager; for they are to other socks as gloves are to mittens.  Now each toe was free to wiggle and probe, isolated and yet together - separated into little toe socks.



It felt fucking weird.


Many thanks to TrekHireUK for helping me find what is the best fitting shoes I've had in a while.
Also, here's a link to my lighterpack where I can worry about how heavy my gear is.

Support Network

Do I have one?

Well yes, but actually no.

Or no, but actually yes; but I couldn't find an image for that.


My girlfriend, other friends and family will be (hopefully) reading along at home.  Possibly watching along if I post videos.  They'll be with me in spirit.  But in person? If I'm lucky?  Maybe?

My girlfriend and family have expressed interest in flying out to see me whilst I'm away, but there's no guarantee that they can.  They certainly can't do it more than once (unless it's an emergency).

Unlike some American and Canadian (or even Mexican) (or maybe Cuban) (or any one else in North America), my friends and family can't just pop over to see how I'm doing.  They might be able to send me supplies or gear, and I might be able to send stuff home, but that will be costly; and will have a significant delay between them sending it and me receiving it.  

I'll be working under the assumption that I cannot get aid from friends and family, and it shall be a nice surprise if I do get anything nice.  I plan to be fully self supported, because I don't have the option not to be.  

However 

I do have a sort of lifeline guarantee.  If something goes wrong, if something bad happens, or even if I just want to give up; I do have a one use only Get Me Out Of Here card, if you will.  But there's no takebacks, no rewind or undo button.  No Ctrl+Z.  
Unlike local(er) people, if I quit I will not be able to un-quit without saving up and booking flights all over again.  

No pressure, though; right?

 

Aren't I Worried?

I'm going to confess a secret.

I'm getting worried.

Not, you know, lot.  But.. a bit. 
I keep thinking what if my bag is too heavy?
What if something goes wrong?  I could get injured! 
I could miss out on important things back home!  I might not be recognised, maybe I won't recognise my friends and family when I get home! Six months is a long time, after all.

And worse, what if I don't enjoy it?  I can't easily come home if it turns out to be completely awful.
Don't get me wrong, I am still very excited and I am looking forward to it all.  But.. what if!? 

So here's what I'm doing

I am doing as much as I can to not read about other people right now.  I can't keep comparing myself to others who might be lighter, who might be heavier.  I'll get stuck in a loop and panic. 
So I'm throwing myself into my other duties right now.  I'm still exercising and keeping myself fit and ready for the hike of a lifetime, but I'm also not going to read anything more.  If I need to get lighter stuff, I'll do it when I'm in the USA.
I'm taking on more tutees and engaging in my other hobbies more, and hopefully I'll stop worrying for now. 
Because all of these worries are unfounded and silly.  I will have fun, if I do get injured I have insurance, if something goes wrong I have backups.  So everything will be fine, I know it rationally.








....but what if...?

Ursack AllMitey

It's been a while since I've written anything.  I've not had much to write.  Now I do.

Ursack AllMitey

So on the trail, there are bears.  Bears are a little bit scary even though they have cute fluffy ears and look adorable.  They are cute, they can also chew me up and spit my out literally.  So I don't want to keep food in my tent in case a bear decides it's hungry.  A fed bear is a scared, possibly hurt, me but also a dead bear.  bears that associate humans with food tend to get put down eventually, and we shouldn't want to put down anything that looks that cute. 

Generally, people on the AT use something called the PCT Bear Hang.  In short, this means hanging a bag full of food (and other smelly things) from a tree so that hopefully a bear cannot get at the food.  I'm not going to do this.

Now before I have an angry mod attacking me with pitchforks for indirectly harming the population of one of the cutest apex predators in the world, I do have my reasons.
Andrew Skurka, adventurer (I want that job title), has relatively recently posted on his own vastly superior blog about why bear bags are probably not the best.  In case you don't want to read a better blog than mine, I'll summarise:

• It's probably going to be done wrong.  

...that's pretty much it.  It actually takes a lot of skill, and thus a lot of practise, to successfully hang a bear bag.  It needs to be far enough off the ground  (approximately 12' or 3.5m), far enough down from the branch and far enough from the tree (about 5' or 1.5m).  Even if someone is the absolute best bear bag hanger to ever hang a bear bag, they still need suitable conditions to it in.
Now I know, I know; I'm going hiking through the woods - of course there'll be trees I can do that from!  But that still means finding one accurately.
It's also time consuming, and can be dangerous as it involves throwing a rock over a branch and hoping to not hit anybody when it comes down.

So what am i doing instead?  I'm going to use an Ursack AllMitey.  Mine arrived earlier this week.  Obviously,  I've not had a chance to test it myself, but it has excellent testimonials.  It's a bag that by its design material is impervious to bears and to rodents.  (Notably, it isn't dog or presumably wolf resistant.  Something about sharp enough teeth and strong enough jaws.) 

I shove all my food and other bear-attracting items into it, tie it shut and then secure it to a tree.  It doesn't need to be high up a tree, it doesn't need to be out of reach.  It's only secured to a tree to make sure a bear doesn't run off with it.